Homemade Falafel

One of the advantages of traveling the world is that you can try the same food in many different places and many different versions.

I've eaten Falafel in a couple of places in the world and as surprising as it sounds the best I liked was in Amsterdam. 
As stated in my Jelly doughnuts recipe. Both the Jelly Doughnuts and Falafel recipe were given to me by a polish grand mother on her trip to Singapore.

Serves 2 to 3 
Here's how I make my Falafel

2 cups soaked chickpeas (see note below)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 large clove garlic chopped
1 cup chopped Cilantro
1/2 cup chopped Parsley
1/4 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp dry bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil for deep frying

Note: take one cup of dried chick peas, place them in a bowl and fill it with water. The water should be about 3 to 4 times the amount of the chickpeas. Let soak for about 6 to 8 hours until double in volume. Drain and use as directed above.


Method:
Chop the leaves and onions roughly as you will be putting them into the food processor.

Process the chick peas along with the cilantro, parsley and onion until coarse.
The texture is an important factor here -  
Too coarse and you won't be able to form a ball.
A paste will make a smooth ball but have no texture or crunch to your Falafel.
So process until you can mold the mixture into a ball with your hands.

Add in the spices, sesame seeds and bread crumbs

Give it a good mix. Add in the lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Your Falafel mixture is ready. 
In the mean time, have a pot with oil heating on medium heat. 

This is a small instrument that helps make the Falafel. I just picked one recently.
Until now I formed the balls by hand.  You could also use two spoons.
This device ensures the Falafel are all the same size. 

All you do is hold down the little pin with your thumb - fill the top mold, once full hold over the hot oil and release the pin. The Falafel should drop down into the oil 

Fry all the Falafels in medium hot oil about for about 3 to 4 minutes.
The Chickpeas are raw not cooked so ensure the oil is medium not too hot or the falafels will brown too quickly on the outside leaving an uncooked center on the inside.

 Drain on a paper towel.

Here you can see most of the Falafel are approximately the same size due to the Falafel device.  However, there are four Falafel on the top that I formed by hand and not the device.
But can't tell the difference - can you?

 Falafel are best serves with Pita bread and Tahina with a simple cucumber and tomato salad.
I showed you how to make Tahina in my previous post on - Chicken Shawarma Pita Pockets.

Enjoy!


Thanks for stopping by.